The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!

My 56 for this week is from:

H.P. Lovecraft’s Favorite Weird Tales

The Roots Of Modern Horror

Edited by Douglas A. Anderson

Genre: Horror / Short Stories

My 56 from the paperback.

This is from the Novel Of The Black Seal by Arthur Machen

A month is too short a time to feel one’s way in London. London, let me tell you, Miss Lally, does not lie open and undefended; it is a fortified place, fossed and double-moated with curious intricacies.

~~~~~

It’s been some time since I’ve read anything by this author. It’s taking a bit to get back into his style of writing. There are some new authors included in this collection that I’m looking forward to trying too.

In 1929-30, H.P. Lovecraft made some lists of both literary and popular stories “having the greatest amount of truly cosmic horror and macabre convincingness.” These lists of his favorite weird tales make for a truly landmark Lovecraftian anthology. We present Lovecraft’s own favorites horror stories, including some well-known classics, alongside of a number of excellent rare tales by forgotten authors. Many of these stories are classics, inspiring several generations since of the world’s best horror authors. Contributors include Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Machen, Robert W. Chambers, M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, M. P. Shiel, A. Merritt, Walter de la Mare, Paul Suter, M. L. Humphreys, H.F. Arnold, Everil Worrell, Arthur J. Burks, and John Martin Leahy. This is the anthology of favorite weird tales that Lovecraft himself hoped to compile!